Re: Protopenguins and pterosaurs

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Mickey Mortimer wrote:

> I was surprised to see just how poorly Waimanu was supported as a penguin- 
> "Waimanu is closer to penguins than to any other bird group in the 
> following combination of characters: some thoracic vertebrae are not 
> heterocoelous; synsacrum has 11-12 ankylozed vertebrae; hypotarsal crests 
> and grooves of the tarsometatarsus are not well-developed (but medial 
> hypotarsal crest is distinct)."
> Those look like three plesiomorphic states to me.

The plotopterids are mentioned a few times in the text.  These were 
flightless, wing-propelled diving birds that were strikingly similar to 
penguins; they are usually allied with pelecaniforms with the morphological 
similarities to penguins attributed to convergence (as argued by Olson).  
However, there's no mention in the text of Mayr's (2004) hypothesis that 
penguins and plotopterids might actually be closely related (sister taxa).  
It would be interesting to have plotopterids in the same morphological 
analysis as penguins and _Waimanu_.

Cheers

Tim